A Windom woman lost more than $4,200 to a common Amazon-related scam, recently.
The woman told police the scam started with an email she received from a person who said her Amazon account had been hacked. Later, she received a follow-up call from a party who repeated the claim and that he could solve the problem if she would go to the store and buy gift cards and send him the cards’ numbers.
After following the request, using $500 in gift cards, she was told to buy more. Ultimately, she spent $4,200 on gift cards.
“People should know this scam is out there,” said Windom Assistant Police Chief Cory Hillesheim. “Amazon will not call and tell you to give them gift card numbers in order to get your account back. We cannot stress enough, if you have questions, call the police.”
Share your scam story
Local law enforcement is concerned about the impact of scams on area residents, particularly the elderly.
Consequently, this newspaper works with local police and sheriff’s departments to keep residents updated on common schemes. Scam Alerts will appear in future editions as often as possible in the coming weeks. Readers can also find online scam updates at windomnews.com.
If you have been the target of a scam, your first contact should be local authorities. Also, feel free to contact us with details (we can keep your name confidential).
Send your story to: rahnl@windomnews.com, or call 507-831-3455. By sharing, you could prevent someone from being scammed.
Watch www.windomnews.com for regular weekday updates at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., plus BREAKING stories at other times. Follow CoCoCitizen @CitPub on Twitter.
